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Todos os capítulos de The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 8

8 Capítulos

Chapter 1

I sent my driver and security detail back to the estate, then wandered through the city alone.By the time I reached Times Square, rain had soaked through my coat.On the largest screen above the intersection, a familiar face appeared.Mine.It was a replay of the family interview we had filmed six months ago, right after I learned I was pregnant.Father stood beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Moretti estate, holding up a flawless blue diamond he had bought at auction.“The Heart of the Sea will belong to my first grandchild,” he told the reporter. “Its price means nothing. What matters is that it stays in the family.”Beside him, Dante tightened his arm around my waist.“Elena deserves all the credit,” he said, looking at me as if I were the only woman in the world. “She’s giving me a baby. I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure they’re both safe and loved.”The image froze on us smiling at each other.A headline appeared beneath it.NEW YORK’S MOST POWERFUL FAMILIES CELEBRATE

Chapter 2

“Mrs. Russo. Are you sure about this?”My attorney paused.“Once I set this in motion, neither Don Moretti nor Don Russo will be able to trace you.”“But those men control half the East Coast. Once they realize you’re gone, they’ll tear New York apart looking for you.”He paused again.“Dante will lose his mind.”I stared at Dante’s signature on the divorce agreement.“Make the arrangements.”A few minutes later, an encrypted message appeared on my phone.A new name. A clean passport. A one-way flight seven days from now.In seven days, Elena Moretti would disappear.Once, leaving Father and Dante would have been unbelievable. They were the two men who had held me together after Mother died.I still remembered how Father had collapsed to his knees at Mother’s funeral, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe.He swore Bianca’s mother, Sofia, had drugged him during a party and that he remembered nothing from that night. By the time he learned the truth, Sofia was already pregnant.Moth

Chapter 3

The next day, I went to the Belladonna Hotel. I simply needed to see the truth with my own eyes before I walked away for good.A black wig, glasses, and a loose catering uniform hid my face—and my pregnancy—as I entered the top-floor ballroom of the Belladonna Hotel.The first firework exploded over Manhattan just as I stepped onto the balcony.Gold light flooded the windows, followed by a second burst in Bianca’s favorite shade of red. Her name appeared across the sky in shimmering letters.HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIANCA.Only then did I understand why Dante could not give me our entire anniversary.The ballroom doors opened as the final letters faded.Father entered with Sofia on his arm. Dante followed with Bianca clinging to his side, her pregnant belly displayed beneath a red silk gown.He wore the white suit I had chosen for our anniversary.Another firework burst overhead.Bianca gasped and threw herself into his arms.“This is wonderful.” Bianca laughed through her tears. “No one has

Chapter 4

I waited until Dante’s footsteps disappeared down the stairs.Then I left the guest room and walked to the window at the end of the hall.From there, I could see the front courtyard.Bianca stood beside the fountain in a pale blue dress, one hand pressed beneath her swollen belly. Her face was wet with tears.Dante strode toward her and seized her arm.I opened the window slightly.Their voices drifted up from below.“What the hell are you doing here?” Dante demanded. “I told you never to come to this estate.”“I didn’t know where else to go.”“Elena is upstairs. If she sees you—”“I’m bleeding, Dante.”His anger vanished.“What?”Bianca pulled a folded medical report from her purse.“The cramping started this morning. Dr. Carver said if it gets worse, I could go into preterm labor.”“Why aren’t you at the clinic?”“I was scared.” Bianca’s voice broke. Her knees seemed to give way.Dante caught her before she fell.“Easy. Don’t move.”Bianca buried her face against his chest.“I know

Chapter 5

Dante returned to the Russo estate expecting to find me waiting for him.“Elena?”No answer came.He loosened his tie and headed upstairs, probably assuming I was still angry that he had stayed away longer than promised.“Elena, tesoro. I’m home.”Our bedroom was empty.He checked the guest room next.Empty.“Elena!”Within seconds, guards and staff filled the corridor.“Where is Elena?”“She left for an early medical appointment.”“And no one went with her?”“She said she didn’t need security. We didn’t question the Donna.”He frowned. If I had gone to the clinic, I should have been home now.Dante then called me.It went straight to voicemail.I had never ignored his calls—not once in all the years we had been together.By the third unanswered call, unease had turned to panic.There was only one explanation he could assume.Someone had taken his Donna.“Lock down every airport, train station, harbor, and highway out of New York,” he ordered. “If anyone has touched her, I want them al

Chapter 6

My new life began in a private apartment overlooking Hyde Park, London.No guards waited outside. No family crest marked the door. No one in London knew that a Moretti daughter or Russo Donna lived inside.To everyone here, I was Claire Bennett.A folder from Harbor House waited on the dining table.It was a London organization that provided emergency housing and legal support to pregnant women.Before leaving New York, I had directed the proceeds from my charity auction to them.The director’s letter thanked me for the donation.Then it explained that twenty-three women were still waiting for safe housing.I picked up my phone and scheduled a meeting with her for the following week.The next morning, I took a cab alone to my first prenatal appointment in London.The receptionist handed me a form.Name: Claire BennettEmergency contact:I stared at the empty line.For my entire life, Father or Dante had been the first person called whenever anything happened to me.This time, I wrote m

Chapter 7

When my contractions began, I called the private maternity hospital where I had arranged to deliver.A car arrived within fifteen minutes.By the time I reached the hospital, my contractions were three minutes apart. My obstetrician and private midwife were already waiting in the delivery suite.The admissions nurse checked my file.“Your attorney is listed as your emergency contact. Is that correct?”“Yes.”“Anyone else?”“No.”That answer did not frighten me.I had chosen the doctors in this room. I had prepared a nursery in my Hyde Park apartment. My son already had a trust that no Russo or Moretti could control.He would have every opportunity their money could buy—and the freedom to choose the life he wanted.Six hours later, my son entered the world screaming.The nurse placed him against my chest.He was warm, furious, and perfect.Before he was even born, everyone in New York had called him the next Russo heir or Don Moretti’s first grandson.But as his tiny fingers closed arou

Chapter 8

Three months later, Dante returned to London for his first supervised visit with Leo.He arrived twenty minutes early and came alone.No convoy. No armed men. No attempt to discover where we lived.For once, Dante Russo had followed every rule I made.When I entered the private visiting room at Harbor House, he rose immediately.His gaze locked on me, then to Leo.My son had grown quickly. His dark hair had thickened, and his tiny hands now grabbed everything within reach.Dante stared at him as if three months had stolen an entire lifetime.“He’s bigger,” he said.“Babies grow.”“I know.” His voice dropped. “I just wasn’t there to see it.”That was the consequence he would have to live with.For a moment, I remembered the family portrait Bianca had sent me.Dante, Father, and Bianca gathered around her pregnant belly as though I had never existed.Now the men stood in front of me begging for whatever place I was willing to give him.His arms tightened protectively around Leo.“Elena—”

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